A new corrosion-inhibiting strategy for biodegradable magnesium: reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH)

Indirect Enhancement of ALD Thin-Film Properties Induced by the ECAP Modification of an As-Extruded Mg-Ca Alloy

The purpose of this study is to investigate the indirect effects on the properties of ZrO2 films deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) when an Mg-Ca alloy is modified through equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) following extrusion. The study aims to understand how the increase in CaO content in the native oxide layer of the Mg-Ca alloy influences the crystallinity and defect density of the ZrO2 film. Consequently, the corrosion protection performance of the ZrO2 film is enhanced by 1.2 to 1.5 times. A reduction in the anti-scratch property of the ZrO2 film was also observed, with a critical load reduction of 34 μN. This research provides a detailed analysis of the modifications induced by ECAP on the as-extruded Mg-Ca alloy and its subsequent impact on the properties of the ZrO2 film.

Controlled Bipolar Doping of One-Dimensional van der Waals Nb2Pd3Se8

Tailoring the electrical properties of one-dimensional (1D) van der Waals (vdW) materials is desirable for their applications toward electronic devices by exploiting their unique characteristics. However, 1D vdW materials have not been extensively investigated for modulation of their electrical properties. Here we control doping levels and types of 1D vdW Nb₂Pd₃Se₈ over a wide energy range by immersion in AuCl₃ or β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) solutions, respectively. Through spectroscopic analyses and electrical characterizations, we confirm that the charges were effectively transferred to Nb₂Pd₃Se₈, and the dopant concentration was adjusted to the immersion time. Furthermore, we make the axial p-n junction of 1D Nb₂Pd₃Se₈ by a selective area p-doping using the AuCl₃ solution, which exhibits rectifying behavior with an I_forward/I_reverse of 81 and an ideality factor of 1.2. Our findings could pave the way to more practical and functional electronic devices based on 1D vdW materials.

Electrochemical Analysis of the Influence of Purines on Copper, Steel and Some Other Metals Corrosion

Metals stability and corrosion resistance are very important factors that influence the possibility of their applications. In order to study and foresee the behavior of metals during various applications in all kinds of conditions and media, numerous approaches and techniques are developed and applied. Among those techniques, electrochemical measurements nowadays have a dominant role since they are proved to be highly efficient, reliable, fast, relatively low-cost, and easy regarding the preparation and execution of measurements. Besides that, they also provide quite a good amount of data regarding the effect and the mechanism of the reactions that metals interact in. Metals corrosion is reduced by various methods, one of the most frequently used ones is the application of corrosion inhibitors. Usually, organic compounds are studied as potential corrosion inhibitors, and at the moment the focus is on the effect on the environment. Hence, environmentally friendly and non-toxic inhibitors are important research topics. Purines, since they are the group of bioorganic compounds found in numerous biochemical structures such as DNA and RNA, present a very interesting possible solution and are studied as inhibitors of corrosion for copper, steel, aluminum, etc., as well as for some metal alloys. Data obtained and available up until the present are presented and discussed in this review.

The Future of Cardiovascular Stents: Bioresorbable and Integrated Biosensor Technology

Cardiovascular disease is the greatest cause of death worldwide. Atherosclerosis is the underlying pathology responsible for two thirds of these deaths. It is the age-dependent process of "furring of the arteries." In many scenarios the disease is caused by poor diet, high blood pressure, and genetic risk factors, and is exacerbated by obesity, diabetes, and sedentary lifestyle. Current pharmacological anti-atherosclerotic modalities still fail to control the disease and improvements in clinical interventions are urgently required. Blocked atherosclerotic arteries are routinely treated in hospitals with an expandable metal stent. However, stented vessels are often silently re-blocked by developing "in-stent restenosis," a wound response, in which the vessel's lumen renarrows by excess proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells, termed hyperplasia. Herein, the current stent technology and the future of biosensing devices to overcome in-stent restenosis are reviewed. Second, with advances in nanofabrication, new sensing methods and how researchers are investigating ways to integrate biosensors within stents are highlighted. The future of implantable medical devices in the context of the emerging "Internet of Things" and how this will significantly influence future biosensor technology for future generations are also discussed.